Chapter 345: Doubt

Unlike the three of them, the other three didn't have that kind of peaceful training.

In the Graham Family's mansion, specifically Michelle's room, the girl was lying flat on the ground. Her eyes were fuzzy and unfocused. Water that she drank earlier flowed out of her mouth.

She panted and started rolling on the ground. Her expression was distorted as though she was enduring pain all over her body.

No one realized her current state because she had forbidden everyone from entering her room.

The fuzzy memory of her past where she first met Kai appeared in her mind, giving her additional strength. She closed her eyes for a moment and clenched her teeth, enduring this.

"I can't be the weakest one." Her eyes regained their focus, and she took a deep breath. Even with her eyes letting out tears or her body and forehead were covered with sweat, she endured everything.

At the same time, she wasn't the only one to have ridiculous progress like that. Ayaka and Tasha had gone together to the battlefield, creating a two-person group.

They were on top of a hill, facing a thousand magical beasts that were storming from below.

"Tasha, what do you think about this?"

"You and I are rivals in the last competition, so I guess we could make a small bet in this situation?" She smiled while drawing her bow.

"I don't mind. But you must have used your Sealing Magic in that competition, right? If not, you wouldn't be able to win." She smirked. "Are you going to use it again?"

"There is only you and me here, so I guess I can do it. I will take care of this side, and you take care of the other side. We will see who kills more. Instead of a win-win situation, we will lose if the magical beasts manage to reach the top. It means the competition is annulled and we need to have a punishment agreed by both of us. What do you think?"

"I am fired up. And don't forget the most important rule that Kai would say at this moment." Ayaka smiled while glancing at her.

Tasha also smiled with her back touching Ayaka's. Both of them thought and said the same thing.

"The one who gets heavily injured will be disqualified."

Ayaka immediately disappeared while Tasha released her arrows.

…

The training continued for another week. In Ria Ross's house, Kai was rubbing his belly.

"I don't know why but when I failed, it would go to my stomach most of the time." Kai sighed, feeling a bit sick.

"Here. Take a look at this." Ria waved her hand, calling him to see the screen she was looking at.

Kai nodded and approached her, finding a 3D model along with the airflow.

She then played the model and gave Kai the reason why it would always hit the stomach. The 3D figure hit the ground again, and the sound wave dispersed. However, the majority of the sound wave was accumulated on top of the sword because of how it was directed.

It then flowed on top of his sword before reaching his stomach.

"This is what happened. Because you are swinging your sword, the residual sound wave and air will flow to the back of your sword and, in this case, upward. From what I know, with how fast the sword is, the air flows around your sword first before going in all directions. Unfortunately, before it can disperse, it meets his body first, so yeah, that's the reason." She shrugged.

"It's quite painful even with the exoskeleton, you know."

"Still, the one that has the most brutal impact is the one that your sword hits. In other words, the ground. After all, the reason why this air can flow like this is mostly due to the sword hitting the ground. Either way, if you can control the Sonic Boom direction and your Sword, I think you will be able to deal huge damage to the protector's hard skin."

Kai stroked his chin and looked down, falling into deep thought. "What if it hits a person? I don't dare to use something this dangerous if I don't have enough mastery to wield it perfectly. After all, the most regrettable thing I can do right now is friendly fire."

"I agree." She nodded in agreement. "However, you must work a bit harder." She smiled.

"I know. I have already gotten the gist of it. If possible, I want to control it perfectly within two to three weeks. After that, we are going to fight." Kai smirked.

"I have already understood this technique though." She looked at him.

"It's fine. Whatever the result, I will try to do whatever I can within a month of fighting you. After that, I would like to work on my strategy and other things."

"Actually, I have one plan for you."

"What is it? Are you going to send me to the battlefield?" he asked with an expectant look.

"Nope. There are two possibilities to erase the weakness of your Zodiac Blood." She raised two fingers while smiling. "The first thing is to erase it with medicine that I have been working on. It is going to be finished within one week or two. I can inject you with the medicine, and you can use your animal instinct for a long time without experiencing the backlash."

"I see. That is great. If I can use that instinct, I can increase my reaction speed by thirty percent." Kai nodded. "What is the second one?"

"This one has a difficulty on another level. To put it simply, I can use the medicine to stimulate that blood of yours and use that as a catalyst so you can control it perfectly. In other words, this won't give you only the advantage coming from instinct. You will get much more, such as an increase of speed and strength like how a lion fights." She smirked. "This one is a bit risky."

"How risky is it?" Kai asked.

"For the current you? I think around sixty-five percent to seventy-five percent. If you understand what is coming toward you, I believe we can increase it to eighty to ninety percent, depending on your control over your magic and pain."

Kai furrowed his eyebrows. "If it has that high success rate, then I don't think Teacher needs to ask me, right?"

"I know that you will choose the second option. Even so, I want you to know first." She shrugged.

"The enemies in the future aren't half-baked opponents like humans. Instead, they are monsters that have been living for several thousand years to a hundred thousand years. If I don't use any opportunity, I won't be able to protect my family from them." Kai clenched his fist and looked at Ria with a serious expression.

"I know your concern, but there is one more important thing you need to do." She looked at him.

"Are you talking about the archeological sites?"

"Yeah. We need to discover what kind of beings the protectors are. Even though they are saying they only want to maintain the balance, I feel that's not all. After all, there are many things that break that goal of theirs. No, I should say they kill people in the name of their goal without any reasoning." She narrowed her eyes.

"Teacher…" Kai suddenly remembered something.

"What?"

"What will humans do when there isn't a single magical beast anymore on Earth? Are we going to be a vegetarian?"

"Hmm?! Interesting question. There are not many people who have that question in their head because of the imminent threat the magical beasts give them."

"I believe this is what they mean about Earth's cry. Like how we have exhausted many resources and let many animals extinct in the past, there would be a time where the Earth lost its food and water source. What will happen at that time?" He asked.

"Probably Outer Space Exploration. We are indeed having trouble facing the magical beasts right now. However, I believe in one hundred to two hundred years. The humans will be able to turn this situation around." She thought for a moment before continuing. "This base will take over Canada and Alaska completely. The EU Base and United Asia will restore Russia, China, and nearby countries. When the time comes, our population should have grown as well, and the humans can start doing another plan like space exploration."

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't mean to brag but take a look at me. I am a genius that can do many things. There are many more geniuses that will appear from now on. If we are directed some resources to that area, the possibility is there, especially with this new source called magic. We might be able to do something more than what the people of the past could do."

"I see."

"Well, we won't be the one to see it." She smiled. "If the humans go extinct because they have exhausted this world's resource, that's their own choice. Whether to explore the planets nearby, they can choose to take their own lives like this. Either way, we won't be there to witness it."

"Yeah. I might have thought it too much." He let out a long sigh. "I just feel that there is something we need to know about these protectors. Their secret must be very important to us and the entire humanity. I will do my best, but I will say no to a suicide mission. After all, my family is more important than this base."

"Fair enough. However, you need to remember that a suicide mission is a subjective opinion. If you don't have strength, you will think an easy mission is a suicide mission. If you have overwhelming strength, you will think of an easy mission as a boring mission. That's why you need to get stronger as soon as possible."

"I will go back to my training then." Kai nodded.